


The Politics of Delinquent Love

by Gozufucker



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Advice, Akira only speaking 1 word is intentional, Bro - Freeform, M/M, No Spoilers, Ramen, Some Fluff, Some angst, Summer, Two teens totally not being gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-12-05 09:44:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11575494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gozufucker/pseuds/Gozufucker
Summary: Sakamoto can't come to terms with his feelings towards Akira, but maybe some outside force could give him the little push he needs to completely understand?





	The Politics of Delinquent Love

By now, he had thought things would get less awkward. Going to the ramen place was their routine, their brohemian rhapsody, their greatest endeavor that they took to at least three times a week, sometimes even more! Yet, for the first time ever, it felt more awkward than brohemian. As if that bro-trust between the two crumbled away…

… Although, that might be because the two had, you know, ascended brohood. Risen above into something higher, like a bromance—Okay, he needed to stop that. Be serious about your romantic interest in your bbbbbbbbbooooooyyffffrrriend

That was such a weird thought. Him, some blonde bleached asshat from asshit new mexico had ended up getting confessed to by a pretty lookin’ thief from some small town. The thought made him pretty good about himself, and hey, he liked Akira back just as much, but there was just something so awkward about all of it. Sure, at the moment of confession, it’d been easy. That was the moment when you got high off of the atmosphere and gave it your all.

But then it got awkward. Were their hang-outs dates now? Did they hafta hold hands? Not that he minded holding hands, but he didn’t know how this shit worked! The one date he’d had before was a joking thing with some random girl back when they both were like frickin’ ten years old, dammit. And that’d been for a play on top of all that! 

Maybe he was just being a bad boyfriend. Or maybe he wasn’t even into boys! Maybe this was all just him taking his bro-ly affection for Akira to the extreme. But that couldn’t be it. Just lookin’ at the guy made him feel nice about a lot of things, like his place in the world. You can’t feel like that with just a bro, can you? And the one time they did hold hands by accident was really sweet and his palms had gotten all frickin’ sweaty too.

These thoughts and much more circled through the mind of Ryuji as him and Akira walked down the street. It was smack dab in the end of the summer vacation, with just about a week to go before school would resume. The evening air was pleasantly warm, with the occasional gust of wind cooling them down if it ever got too much. Just the perfect kind of evening to go for some ramen.

And this had been Akira’s idea, too! He was the one who actually called him up and asked him if he wanted to go and hang out in the evening. That’d been very pleasant too, usually Ryuji had to be the one to prod and poke Akira into going somewhere. Maybe this was his attempt to reach out? They’d been kinda awkward lately.

Not like, bad bad awkward, just… Bad at talking to each other and shit. Confessing does that when one’s a quiet pretty boy and the other’s a loudmouth delinquent who drowns thoughts into aggressive demeanors.

The bell on the door clinging was what broke Ryuji out from his thoughtful trance, eyes feasting on the ramen shop. Oh, oh! This was the one Akira said he’d worked at before, right? One glance at his face confirmed the fact to Ryuji: there was a sense of familiarity with Akira when he stepped in, even greeting the current worker before grabbing a seat for himself, with Ryuji sitting down right next to him.

Damn, he was pretty. That was a thought Ryuji had caught himself thinking a lot of times when looking at Akira. Honestly, he should’ve taken that as a sign of his affections right away, but he was pretty frickin’ dumb about most things concerning himself and his feelings, so this was nothing new to him. There was just something. Maybe it was the soft face he had. Or the curly hair? Or those nice eyes. He kinda just wanted to pet Akira over the head and ruffle his hair, maybe just…

Stop thinking about faces when you’re about to eat, dumbass. Getting a bowl of ramen wasn’t too hard, but staring at someone’s face while trying to eat? Now, that was hard. Mainly because that led to thinking about eating someone’s face off, and honestly, he wanted to avoid that line of thought to his last breath. The two ate in silence for a good while, until.

“Oh! Akira!”

A warm sounding voice appeared behind the two of them, taking a seat next to Akira. Even Ryuji could recognize that voice, even if he hadn’t met the man personally. Toranosuke Yoshida, “No Good Tora”, the guy who had all those speeches near the ramen shop. From what he had gathered, Akira had begun to help the old fart with his speeches. Or something like that. He couldn’t care less about politics.

“And is this your…”

Yoshida paused and gave Ryuji a glance, slowly gaining a warm smile on his face. “Ah, he must be. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sakamoto! My assistant has told me a lot about you, you know?”

He almost swallowed some ramen down his windpipe, letting out a wheezing, hacking sound as he swallowed. God, drowning in ramen sounded like the perfect way to die and to get out of this situation. The hell had Akira gone and said?! Had he been talking about just how stupid he was?! That had to be it, right? No-one ever had anything good to say about him. All the teachers talked shit about him, all the classmates talked shit about him. It’d just make sense for Akira to talk shit about him too, even if they were. Y’know, close. That’s just how the world is.

“Mostly about how good of a friend you have been. I’m rather glad for that, you know? I know how Akira has it a little tough due to the position society has forced him into, but it’s refreshing to know some people of his age still treat him the same, despite the boxes society’s trying to push him into.”

… Huh? He’d said good things? Ryuji calmed down, grunting as he swallowed some more of the ramen, quietly glancing at Akira. He was just sitting there, quietly eating his ramen, occasionally nodding to acknowledge Yoshida. Damn, was the guy made from cast iron or something, or was he just really good at staying quiet and pretending he wasn’t there?

“Uh. Thanks for the nice words, gramps. But honestly, I’m just trying to give the poor guy a break. Everyone’s out there trying to bring him the eff down, and no-one’s giving him the time of day at school. Everyone’s just wondering if he’s gonna shank a teacher or something. It’s effing bullshit.”

Ryuji sounded almost calm while speaking, but his anger bubbled out near the end. The treatment Akira got honestly made him angry. Sure, go ahead and call him a piece of shit, HE deserved it with his actions, but Akira was a good guy through and through. He couldn’t image the guy doing anything bad, ever. From… You know. A moral perspective. Maybe he was a little biased due to certain things, but god dammit.

Yoshida chuckled and ordered a bowl for himself, eating for a moment before sighing contently. “That’s one way to word his situation, yes. I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s so defensive of him.”

Yoshida glances to Ryuji and smiles again. There’s something warm about it, but… Shit, does the guy know?! Has Akira gone and babbled to this old guy?! Ryuji’s face focused on Akira, who seemed just as calm as before, quietly eating away before standing up and quietly excusing himself to the bathroom. Ryuji was left alone with Yoshida, red faced and quietly stuffing himself with ramen to try and hide said red face.

“Although I presume our reasons are a little different. Heh.”

The laugh that leaves Yoshida sounds friendly enough, but it makes Ryuji feel even more embarrassed. Even though no-one else can possibly be listening in on them, he felt as if the whole world was suddenly nailing their eyes onto his back just to examine how he felt about this random transfer student from asshit nowhere. 

“I’m glad he’s found someone like that. And I’m getting the feeling that that someone being you is one of the best choices he could’ve made while here. Although you could really stand to be more honest about your feelings instead of trying to choke them down with some ramen.”

Ryuji sputtered and almost spat the ramen out from his mouth, instead swallowing it and hissing. “The eff do you mean, old man?! I ain’t being dishonest about anything! Stuff ain’t like that anyways… It’s all pretty awkward. I’m sure he’ll eventually realize I’m a dumbass and move on, like everyone else. That’s fine with me, though. As long as the guy’s happy with whatever he does.”

Yoshida sighs and shakes his head, glancing over his shoulder to check if Akira was coming back. There was no sight of the dark haired quiet boy, so he kept talking.  
  
“That attitude is what’s keeping your relationship awkward. He gushes about you every so often when he’s helping out. But if you keep seeing yourself as just some temporary flicker, he’ll really start thinking like that. And I think both you and him would end up rather disappointed if that was the case. He’s very charmed by you.”

Yoshida swallowed more of his ramen and grabbed some pepper, sprinkling it into his bowl to give the last drips some kick. Ryuji did the same soon after, although he felt annoyed rather than lightened. This guy should be sticking to politics, not into the badly-done romantic affairs of some dumbass teenagers who weren’t a romantic item in the first place. Akira deserved better than to have a dumbass like him.

“Oh yeah? And why the hell do you care? I thought old farts like you were pretty judgemental of shit like this, huh?”

Toranosuke finished his bowl and cracked a smile. “Most old farts. I try to keep an open mind… And I care for the happiness of my protégé, even if he’s very quiet about what makes him happy. But there’s one thing that makes him happy that he never keeps quiet about. Something, or rather someone, who he just can’t keep quiet about. That person’s you.”

Yoshida reached over and tapped his finger against Ryuji’s chest before standing up and leaving his payment next to his empty bowl. “And I think you could stand to be a little more honest about your feelings towards him. For both his happiness and yours… But then again, that’s just what this old fart thinks. It’s your job to think about those thoughts and either act on them or ignore them. Tell Akira I had to go; it’s rather late, after all!”

Yoshida left with a wave of the hand, leaving Ryuji alone to think. Akira came back at some point, wondering where Yoshida went. Ryuji mumbled out the answer and returned to his thoughts. The two were quiet as Akira quickly caught up on his bowl, and they were quiet when Ryuji realized he hadn’t even finished his bowl. They were quiet while they paid up, too, and they were quiet when they left the ramen place and back into the evening streets.

It'd gotten darker. Just how long were they in there? It couldn’t have been longer than half a hour at most, but it felt like time had passed by the hours. Or maybe it was just the stars coming out; a cloud had moved away from the sky, revealing it to the two. Ryuji looked up to the stars, deep in thought, until he finally snapped. There was something, maybe a loose gear or a screw, that felt as if it had gotten into place. Be a little more honest about your feelings.

Ryuji slipped his hand to Akira’s, clumsily taking a hold of it. The two stopped their walking right below a sign lit up with some old neons, the colors faded and rustic. Akira glanced down to his hand that had been linked with Ryuji’s, and then to Ryuji, whose face was all red and sweaty from nervousness. Shit, shit, shit, shit, his hands were way too sweaty and yucky for hand holding, god dammit, he should’ve wiped them on his shirt or something first, his palms were way too sweaty and mom’s spaghetti was gonna drop soon, and—

“Finally.”

Akira took a tight grip of Ryuji’s hand, smiling to himself as he set off back to walking. Ryuji followed out of instinct, although he felt like his mind was going to turn off. Just like that?! Finally?! God dammit, he was going to die out here! You don’t just brush off something like that with a “finally!, dude! But… He felt that shock and nervousness slowly melt away as they walked. Finally, eh? Yeah. Finally he was being honest about his feelings. Just honest… No bros. And no dumbasses either.

He was just happy with Akira. And he was happy with his feelings of affection. The two delinquents walked, and they walked, and they kept walking under the starlit nights, hands intertwined ‘till the end.


End file.
